Disparu
by PeggsterLover
Summary: After being separated from Cobb in a dream, Arthur and Eames are kidnapped. Before Cobb can save them, Eames is killed and becomes trapped in Limbo. What will Arthur do to save one of his best friends? No slash – Arthur and Eames friendship only. CH3 UP!
1. Chapter 1

_Summary: After being separated from Cobb when in a dream, Arthur and Eames are kidnapped. Before Cobb can save them, Eames is killed and becomes trapped in Limbo. What will Arthur do to save one of his best friends? No slash – Arthur and Eames friendship only._

_Disclaimer: I do not own anything to do with Inception, the characters or the actors. But, man, if I did own Arthur and Eames… mmmmmm *daydreams*… wait, what? Oh sorry, so yeah, no copyright infringement intended – you know the drill :)_

Arthur woke with a start. Had they been given the kick? Hopefully, that was good news – hopefully it meant they had succeeded. Cobb, Eames and himself had been hired by famed business mogul, Josef Andre, to infiltrate the mind of his lead competitor and lifelong rival, Brandon Hoarding. Their job was to go deep into Hoarding's mind and extract his most secret ideas so that Andre would be able to overpower his nemesis and force him out of business. Arthur felt good about succeeding – it meant he could go and relax for once. After a few seconds of lapping up what joy he felt, he paused – why couldn't he remember actually getting the kick? And why did his head hurt so much?

He thought back on what he could remember from before. The three of them had been walking down a maze of abandoned alleyways in pursuit of Hoarding when he and Eames had become separated from Cobb. The pair had continued on their way through the dark paths when… he couldn't remember anything else. He was puzzled. His confusion grew when he realised that he was not on the comfortable sofa that he had fallen asleep on. He was actually standing upright. Well, he wouldn't call it standing – he was hanging, his hands pulled and tied tightly above his head and his feet barely scraping the floor. Something was wrong. He needed to remember how he got here.

_Come on, Arthur, use your brains man! _He urged himself.

He thought extremely hard.

"_Face it…" the British voice came through the dim light, Eames' accent emphasised by the silence. "We're lost."_

"_Eames, we are not lost." Arthur tried to reassure him – not for Eames' sake, but for his own peace of mind. _

"_Well, how come it's been half an hour since we lost Cobb and we _still _haven't gotten anywhere?" _

"_Eames…"_

"_Oh, no, sorry I tell a lie…" Arthur could sense the sarcasm in Eames' voice "We have got somewhere… that somewhere is LOST."_

_Arthur sighed. It was no use arguing with Eames. It always escalated into one of their childish banters and that would be it. Even worse, Cobb wasn't there so he wouldn't be able to break it up. They continued wandering the alleys when they heard something from around a corner. Both men froze, reaching for their guns. Arthur got to his first and as quickly as he could, turned the corner, prepared for who was on the other side. It turned out to be a what. _

"_All good, Eames." Arthur laughed quietly. "It was just a cat." He turned back to Eames, but he couldn't see him. "Eames?" he calmly called for his elusive partner. Now was not exactly the time or the place to be playing games. He was getting seriously pissed off when he saw movement. He prepared his gun once again, hoping it was just Eames coming out from his hiding spot. He was wrong. _

_The source of the noise became visible and Arthur's stomach dropped. Two people walked into the dim light. Well, only one of them walked. The second was more like dragged. Standing in front of him was a tall, quite frighteningly built man. In his clutches, being held up by the strong grip, was an unconscious Eames. His head was lulled forward, Arthur could see a large gash pouring blood down his face and the attacker had a gun to his head. _

Shit! _Arthur thought. This was not a good sign. He kept his gun trained on the man holding Eames. _

"_I wouldn't do that if I were you. Or your friend dies here and now." the man said, pushing the gun harder against Eames' temple. The force made his head roll to the side, exposing more of his face to the dim light. Arthur was used to seeing Eames unconscious from when they were doing jobs, however this time was different. His usual soft face that indicated that he was in a slightly peaceful slumber was replaced with a more harsh expression, as if even though he was out for the count, he was still in pain caused by the gash protruding from his forehead. _

_Arthur pulled his gun back and held it up in surrender. "Alright, ok just don't hurt him." _

"_Put the gun on the floor." _

_Arthur did as he was told. He placed the gun at his feet and kicked it so it skidded across the floor and halted somewhere in between him and the man. All of a sudden, he was forced forward onto his knees by another man. He hit the ground hard and let out a silent yelp of pain as his knees came into contact with the hard concrete. He glanced up and saw the first man throw Eames' limp form over his shoulder and begin to walk away. He then turned to look at his friendly assailant, however as he turned, his face was met by the butt of a rifle. Then it was lights out. _

Arthur came back to reality. Well, not exactly reality, as he presumed he was still in Hoarding's mind. He began to pull on his bonds. They didn't budge. He tried again. All it resulted in was his wrists and arms hurting even more. He let out an exasperated sigh. He heard a groan from the darkness. He froze, not knowing what to expect. Then he heard a voice.

"Crap… ow…" Arthur would recognise that accent anywhere.

"Eames?" he whispered.

"Arthur? S'that you?"

"Yeah, are you alright?"

"I… well I think so. Except for a bloody big headache…

"Well, thank God you're ok."

"Well, darling, I never thought I'd hear you say that!" Arthur grimaced. He knew he would regret saying that.

"Whatever. Do you have any idea where we are?"

"Not a bloody clue." Eames became more visible in the dull light. Arthur could see that he was tied the exact same way as him and was positioned a few metres away. "The last thing I remember was hearing that noise in the alley and as I reached for my gun, I got a face full of rifle. Then that's it until about twenty seconds ago when I woke up and, well, you know the rest."

Both men sighed and paused for a second. Then Eames spoke up.

"You don't suppose they got Cobb too, do you?" Arthur could hear genuine concern in his voice. He was right to be worried. He wouldn't even blame the guy if he was scared. For this mission, they were under a rather deep sedation. If Cobb didn't show up and save their asses, they would surely be killed and if they were…

Before Arthur could answer, a door on the other side of the room swung open, hitting the wall behind it with a thunderous bang. Both prisoners looked in the direction of the door. In strolled the two men that had attacked them in the alley. Obviously, they must have been Hoarding's security for his subconscious. Trained – just like Fischer's.

"Oh look, it's Tweedle Dumb and Tweedle Dumber. Come to join the party?" Eames was always a smart ass in the face of danger, but he soon regretted it when he received a swift blow to the head, sending the room spinning. "Or not…" he managed to mutter as he regained his bearings.

"What do you guys want with us?" Arthur asked. One of the men approached him.

"We know why you're here. We know you were hired by Andre."

"Well, you seem to know all there is _to _know so, why don't we call it even and go our separate ways huh?" Eames continued to push them with his 'I-don't-give-a-rats-ass' attitude. Before he could grace them with another of his comedic comebacks, however, the second man forced a strip of material into his mouth, tying it roughly at the back of his head. The gag tasted foul – Eames was sure he didn't want to know what the vulgar taste was. He forced his gag reflexes to calm down in order to prevent himself from bringing up his lunch.

Arthur looked over at Eames who sighed. It obviously wasn't him they wanted to talk to.

"Now, where were we?" the first man said. "Ah, yes. We know Andre hired you to steal something from Hoarding's mind. What do you know?"

"What?" Arthur asked, attempting to fake genuine shock. It clearly didn't work – Arthur knew for sure when the butt of a rifle came into contact with his stomach. The wind left him and he gasped for air. He needed to work on his acting skills. This was why he was the point man and Eames was the forger.

"What do you know?" the man shouted now. "What information have you stolen?"

"We… we don't know any… anything…" Arthur wheezed. This was genuine. They hadn't succeeded yet. That's what they had been in the middle of when all this happened. They didn't have the information yet. He suddenly received a punch to his cheek, causing him to swing from his bonds. He could hear Eames struggle against his own restraints before also receiving a blow to the face.

"Honestly! We don't know anything! We never got to any information." Arthur's voice begged with the men, but they didn't listen.

"He's lying." The first man said, approaching Eames. He pulled out his gun and pointed it at Eames. "How about now? Do you have the information now?"

Arthur couldn't believe what was happening. He prayed for Cobb to walk through the door any second, guns blazing and save them. But unfortunately, he didn't see that happening anytime soon.

"Please, just leave him alone. We honestly…. Truly do not know the information…" Arthur could tell something bad was about to happen, before it even did. He could only watch as one of their captors prepared his gun. He could only shout for them to stop as he raised it; finger on the trigger. He could only scream Eames' name as he watched the bullet leave the gun and enter his friend's chest.

"You bastard! No! Eames!" Arthur's yells were mixed with Eames' scream of agony. He struggled even more as he watched Eames. The man winced in pain and then after what seemed like hours, he glanced at Arthur, pain visible in his eyes before letting his body go limp. He simply hung there motionless. The second man approached Eames and put two fingers to his neck. He then looked back at his partner and shook his head. Eames was gone. By now, he was no doubt a prisoner of Limbo. Arthur didn't know what to do.

"So, I ask you again," the shooter returned to his position in front of Arthur "What do you know?"

"I've already told you…" Arthur breathed. "I don't know anything."

"Maybe losing your friend wasn't bad enough. How about a little something more, personal… to help you remember." Before Arthur could blink, the gun was aimed at his mid thigh and the bullet was lodged in his skin.

"Shit!" Arthur yelled. Not again. Why did they always go for his leg? He looked up and was about to give them some smart ass comment, give it to them Eames style, when the door burst open. All occupants of the room looked in its direction and after a few gunshots, both of the captors were dead.

Cobb ran across to Arthur and began to untie him. When the chains came loose, Arthur fell to the ground. He landed on the leg he had been shot in and he let out a cry of pain. Cobb bent down to his level.

"Are you alright? Where's Eames?" Cobb asked.

Arthur was close to tearing up. Sure he had lost people on missions, but this was different. Although they bickered all the time, Eames was one of his best friends. "You couldn't have got here a little sooner?" he looked behind Cobb, whose glance followed to Eames.

"Oh God, Eames." Cobb approached his lost friend and checked for a pulse. He then looked at the blood covering a rather large section of his pale blue shirt. "We've gotta get out of here." he walked back to Arthur, picked him up and began to half carry half drag him to the door.

"But… Eames…" Arthur began to protest at the thought of leaving his friend there.

"He's gone, Arthur. We have to get out. We'll be waking up soon."

"You mean you…"

"Yes, I got it." Cobb replied. "Now let's go."

They left the building and only a few moments later, came the kick.

Arthur woke gasping for breath. He was panicking. How could they have just left Eames there? He was now trapped in Limbo and they had returned to reality without him.

"We've gotta go back!" Arthur yelled, standing up to quickly and almost tumbling to the floor. His head was spinning again – he had to grab the table to stop himself from falling. "We've gotta save Eames."

"Arthur, calm down…" Cobb stood up.

"I will not calm down! Don't tell me to calm down!" Arthur couldn't handle it. Eames was like a brother to him. He would not just give up on him. He dropped back to the couch and put his head in his hands. He had to do something. He spoke, his voice muffled by his hands.

"I'm gonna get him back."

_Alright, what do you think? Should I continue? R&R please :)_

_Much love _

_Xo _


	2. Chapter 2

_Many many many apologies for the long delay – I have had multiple internet issues over the past few weeks – mainly on my laptop, which was where this chapter was stored. But I'm back online and I just have a few things to say:_

_First of all, wow guys! I woke up the morning after posting the first chapter and seeing so many reviews in just a few hours is such an awesome feeling :) Thanks. Glad you like it so far. As for Eames' Limbo… I'm not 100% sure on that yet, so I will just be following Arthur and Cobb in this chapter. However, after seeing the movie for the fourth time, I realised that Arthur stated that although it is pretty much nothing down there, just unconstructed dream space, there will be stuff left from whoever had been there before – which was Cobb. Therefore I may just stick to the Limbo we saw in the film. Hope that you guys are ok with that._

_And sorry if Arthur seemed a little out of character, but I thought that the last time Arthur and Eames truly interacted in the film (when Eames wasn't unconscious) seemed to show them to be getting along better than they had – the way Arthur said "Go to sleep, Mr Eames." with a slight smile. I thought that after the inception job, they might have been slightly closer/better friends. But oh well, I didn't write the script :) I just write this story. And, even if they weren't that close, I hoped they were. _

_Ages weren't described in the film, so I have made my own guesstimate :) for my guesses, Arthur is about 25, Eames is about 28 and Cobb is about 32. I hope you guys are ok with these ages :)_

_And finally, I didn't want to offend any slash fans in writing this fic – I personally don't write slash stories. I wanted to write one purely about Eames and Arthur's friendship as there doesn't seem to be too many on here. _

_Anyway, hope you like this chapter. I hope it's up to your expectations!_

_Much love_

_Xo _

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Cobb didn't know what to do. He had always been the leader of the group – he was the Extractor for Christ sake. He had to be the one to hold it together. But this time, he was having a serious amount of trouble doing so.

Sure when they had initially lost Saito on the inception job, he had been worried – he would have missed the opportunity to be with Phillippa and James again – but the pair didn't know each other too well. But now, this was a completely different situation. Eames had been their friend for years. Being a few years younger than Cobb, Eames had been like the younger brother Cobb had never had. He could say that about Arthur too. The two younger men were his closest friends – you had to be careful who you trusted in this line of work. But these two guys, Cobb knew he could always depend on them – no matter what happened, they always had his back and he felt the need to protect them.

This is why, this time, Cobb felt that he had let the two of them down. He didn't have their back in the alleys. Thus, Arthur and Eames had been kidnapped and then ultimately, Eames had been killed. He felt that it was somewhat his fault. Although he knew that, had Eames been here, the Brit would reassure him that it wasn't, deep down, he felt partially responsible for losing their friend. He turned away from his spot on Andre's porch and headed back inside. Arthur was sitting in the same spot on the sofa, looking at Eames' unconscious body. Even though he not a single word left the point man's lips, Cobb knew exactly what was going through the younger man's mind. Arthur was trying to figure out how he was going to save their friend.

"Arthur?" Cobb didn't want to startle him as he approached. Arthur turned to look at him. It was times like these, times of struggle for the team, when Cobb was reminded of how truly young Arthur actually was. He was such a smart guy, mentally older than his years – apart from his slightly boyish facial features, you wouldn't imagine him to be in his mid 20's. He was always strong, prepared for anything and most of all, his posture and personality portrayed him as much more mature. However, when they were in situations where they faced terrible loss, Cobb saw the true Arthur – the one usually hidden behind all that knowledge. His face was soft, a concerned expression adorned it. He looked so… vulnerable. And it pained Cobb to see him that way. He slowly approached his friend, grabbing a chair and sitting on it. He had the chair facing the wrong way so that he could lean on the back of it and talk to Arthur.

"Arthur, are you ok?"

"No, Cobb, I'm not ok. Not really."

Cobb wished he could go back and change something. Make it that they had never split up. Make it right.

"It's not…" Arthur began. He was back to staring at Eames.

"What?" Cobb leaned a bit closer. "It's not what?"

"It's not your fault." Arthur turned to look at Cobb again, who stared back at Arthur with concern. "I'm sorry I lost it. It wasn't your fault."

Cobb felt like Arthur had read his mind. He had been in there enough times. By now, the point man would probably know how Cobb thought. He wished he could do the same, figure out exactly what Arthur was thinking and feeling. If he would only let him in, Cobb might be able to help his friend.

"Arthur, come on, please let me in. What are you thinking?" Arthur made no comment at Cobb's plea. The extractor waited for the younger man to speak.

"We've gotta save him, Cobb." Arthur finally spoke up. His voice was now sounding more like normal – serious, mature. "I'm going back for him."

It took a moment for Cobb to fully understand what he meant. Then it hit him. "Arthur, no." Cobb stood up, Arthur followed suit and began to prepare the equipment. "Arthur, you can't go down there. It's bad enough that Eames is down there, we don't need to risk losing you too. We'll find another way. I won't let you do this."

"You can't talk." Arthur didn't even look at Cobb when he spoke.

"What?"

"You stayed behind for Saito. When he fell into Limbo, you stayed behind, risked your life for him. You barely knew Saito, yet you did it for him without thinking. Eames has been your friend for years; why the sudden moment of doubt?" Arthur was now looking up at Cobb, a expression more serious than usual covered his face.

"I…"

"Don't you dare mention his promise." Arthur butted in.

Cobb didn't have an argument for it. He had stayed in Limbo to find Saito. It was partially, well mostly, due to the arrangement they had. If he had let Saito remain down there, he would have never got back to Phillippa and James – the ones who needed him most. But now, Eames was down there, it was his forger that needed him more than anything. What kind of a friend was he if he did nothing? Surely he wasn't that selfish. His mind was screaming for him to stop Arthur, tie him down, do anything he could to stop him. But his heart was telling him to let him go. These two guys meant so much to him – they were like uncles to his children – he couldn't risk losing either of them. But deep down, he felt, no he knew, that it had to be done.

Cobb sighed. "Alright…" what was he thinking? "How are you gonna do it? Do you want me to come with you?"

"No, Cobb. You should stay up here, in case anything happens." Arthur went to sit down. Cobb grabbed his arm.

"Arthur, promise me one thing." The point man met his gaze. "If I let you do this, no matter what happens down there, promise me that you'll come back. I can't afford to lose you too." Arthur nodded and Cobb let his hand go loose. He watched as his friend sat back down in the chair, taking one glace at Eames' body before lying back. Cobb began to fix the IV drip into Arthur's wrist and gave one last look at him before pressing the button. He watched as Arthur's breathing became more rhythmic. He could only pray that they would be alright.

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_I really hope this was up to expectations. _

_Xo _


	3. Chapter 3

_So from what I can gather, you're liking this so far, which is definitely a good thing XD_

_Here is the next chapter, hope it is ok… *crosses fingers*…_

^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^

Arthur found himself standing back in the room where he had been not too long ago. Why did he have to come back here? He knew it was probably due to the fact that he was still connected to both Hoarding and Eames. Although it wasn't guaranteed to work, Arthur had decided if he remained connected to them, he might have a better chance of locating Eames in Limbo.

Limbo.

Arthur thought on that word. Within moments, that is where he would be. He hadn't shown Cobb, but he was actually terrified.

"_Right, so what happens when we die?"_

"_We drop into Limbo…"_

"_Are you serious?"_

"_Limbo?"_

"_Unconstructed dream space…"_

"_Well what the hell is down there?"_

"_Just raw, infinite subconscious. Nothing is down there…except whatever might have been left behind by anyone sharing the dream who has been stuck there before…_

…

"_Great… thank you… so now we're trapped in Fischer's mind battling his own private army and if we get killed… we'll be lost in Limbo 'til our brains turn to scrambled egg, hmm?"_

Eames' words rang in his mind as he thought back on their conversation from the inception job. He glanced over and saw Eames' body, still tied up. He closed his eyes and tried to push that image out of his head. He turned and pulled out a gun from the waist of his trousers. As he lifted it, he felt his hand shaking. He closed his eyes.

"I'm coming Eames." He pulled the trigger.

_Hold on. _

^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^

Cobb watched Arthur and Eames as they slept. They both looked so peaceful, however, Cobb knew that by now both his forger and now his point man were deep down in the depths of Limbo.

He sat, chin resting on his hands, and waited.

He felt so helpless, sitting here while his two best friends were down there. But what could he do?

"Are you alright?" Cobb turned to see that Andre had entered the room with two bottles of beer. He offered one to Cobb who took it. He wasn't sure whether he wanted to drink it, but it gave him something to hold in order to hide the slight shaking of his hands.

"Ask me in an hour." Cobb tried to force a small smile, but it didn't work. And Andre noticed.

"Mr Cobb, I'm sorry about your friend. I didn't know that Hoarding had subconscious security down there. If I had…"

"You couldn't have known. Those sorts of things don't usually show up in the information available. Even for the most skilled point man, it is pretty much impossible to find." Cobb glanced at Arthur.

"_Ah, Arthur… you're still working with that stick in the mud?"_

"_Well, he's good at what he does."_

"_Oh, he's the best." _

"We've come up against it before. Security."

"So it's common when you're doing extractions?" Andre asked, sitting down.

"Oh, this wasn't an extraction job. This was the opposite."

Andre's eyes widened. "Inception?" Cobb nodded. "I thought that was impossible…"

"Well, it isn't. But we had the same risks as this time – heavy sedation that risked falling into Limbo. We convinced the mark to work with us – that we were there to help him – but he was killed three levels down."

"Three? I didn't realise going that deep was possible."

"Well it was necessary to perform the inception completely. Myself and a colleague followed him down there and managed to give him the kick while Eames used a defibrillator to get him out."

"What about you and your colleague?"

"She jumped and got out, but I stayed."

"Why?"

"The man who hired us had been shot in the first layer. He had made it down to the third, but died from his injuries. I managed to find him – by this time, he was an old man."

"_Filled with regret… waiting to die alone…"_

"And you managed to convince him to come back?"

"Yes. I found him and we came back to reality together."

Andre looked at the unconscious forms of Eames and Arthur. "So that is what Arthur is planning on doing? Convincing Mr Eames to come back?"

"Yes."

"And you believe he can do it?"

Cobb looked at his friends. "Yes I do."

^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^.^

_Well I thought I'd leave this chapter there for now. Hope you liked :)_

_Please remember to stop by – loved it? Hated it? Let me know!_

_Much love_

_Xo _


End file.
